Five killed in holiday weekend crashes in Minnesota

A woman from the Cokato area was killed in Wright County when her van rolled. Four from the Pine Point-Ponsford area were killed northeast of Detroit Lakes.

By GREGORY A. PATTERSONgregory.patterson@startribune.com

Last update: July 5, 2009 - 9:52 PM

Traffic accidents took the lives of five people in Minnesota over the July 4th holiday weekend, three fewer than in the same period last year, a Minnesota State Patrol spokesman said Sunday.

A 29-year-old woman from the Cokato area was killed early Saturday when the minivan she was driving left a Wright County road and rolled over several times and she was thrown from the vehicle, according to the Wright County Sheriff's Office.

The vehicle was northbound on County Road 4, near 40th Street SW., when the driver apparently lost control while rounding a curve. She was the lone occupant of the vehicle and wasn't wearing a seat belt, authorities said.

They declined to release the driver's name, pending notification of family members, and said it probably will be made available today. The accident remains under investigation, officials said.

The identities of four people who died earlier Saturday when their van left a highway northeast of Detroit Lakes, struck a raised section of a ditch and then rolled over are also expected to be released today.

The Becker County Sheriff's Office said there were seven people in the van at the time of the accident. The four victims were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.

The victims were from the Pine Point-Ponsford area and identified as two men, ages 35 and 28, and two woman, ages 24 and 22, authorities said.

The survivors were being treated at hospitals in Detroit Lakes and Fargo.

State Patrol spokesman Matt Langers said officers stepped up enforcement over the holiday weekend by placing more patrols in troublesome areas and by looking more closely for drunken drivers, something they also did last year.

"We were out in force working hard, but not anything that we usually don't do" on a holiday weekend, he said.

Gregory A. Patterson • 612-673-7287

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